The present invention relates to protective headgear for athletics. More particularly, the present invention relates to a protective head guard for soccer players.
Protective headgear has long been used in various athletic events. For example, football players and baseball players wear helmets to protect themselves from blows to the head. Similarly, hockey players have now begun to protect themselves with helmets. More recent, recreational sports such as bicycling have an increasing number of participants wearing protective headgear.
Traditionally, soccer players have not worn any protective headgear. One of the reasons for the lack of protective headgear in soccer has been the perception that injuries to the head are not as commonplace as in sports such as football, baseball, hockey and bicycling. However, recent medical research has demonstrated that head injuries may be more prevalent in soccer than previously thought. In addition to injuries resulting from a single blow to the head, several studies have suggested that soccer players may suffer minor trauma from repeatedly heading the ball. The minor trauma has been analogized to xe2x80x9cpugilistic dementia,xe2x80x9d which boxers suffer from as a result of repeated strikes to the head. Alf Thorvald Tysvaer, Head and Neck Injures in Soccerxe2x80x94Impact of Minor Trauma, Sports Medicine, 14(3): 200-213 (1992). The danger of trauma is increasingly significant with respect to children whose bodies may not be developed enough to properly withstand or counteract the blow caused by a ball. Id. at 210. Thus, there is a need, at least from a safety standpoint, for headgear for use by soccer players.
However, soccer is one of the few sports in which the head is intentionally and frequently used to strike the ball. Thus, the unique demands of the sport require a uniquely designed headgear. The types of headgear used in football, baseball, hockey and bicycling are not suitable for use in soccer. For example, football and baseball helmets are extremely bulky and would deter soccer players from using them. Hockey helmets, although less bulky then football and baseball helmets, are comprised of uneven surfaces that would make it difficult to control the direction and distance of a headed ball. Bicycle helmets are light but the uneven surfaces would make header control difficult. Further, bicycle helmets are built to withstand but one substantial blow.
Several patents have been directed to headgear designed for use in soccer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,852 to Romero (the ""852 patent) discloses a head guard for minimizing injury resulting from the forehead of the player contacting the ball. However, the apparatus disclosed in the ""852 patent only protects the forehead of the wearer. Not only does the apparatus of the ""852 patent neglect other parts of the head which may be used, properly or improperly, to strike balls, but it also fails to protect other parts of the head from injurious incidental contact such as accidentally striking another player""s head or striking the goal post. Further, the design of the ""852 patent would likely result in the headgear slipping up or down on the wearer""s head during play. There is, therefore, a need to provide soccer headgear that protects all parts of the head and that does not slip during play.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,841 to Lampe et al. (the ""841 patent) discloses a soccer headguard intended to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art. The ""841 patent is comprised of essentially a two-ply stretchable material with pockets formed within the plies for insertion of foam pads. The foam pads may be positioned to provide protection for the portions of a player""s head which generally come in contact with a soccer ball. Because the foam pads are simply inserted into pockets formed within the plies, there is the possibility of the pads displacing upon repeated contact. In order to prevent displacement of the pads within the pockets during play, the two-ply stretchable material must be stretched tight by constriction of the chin strap. The required chin strap restriction would result in player discomfort. Thus, there exists a need to provide soccer headgear that offers protection for the portions of a player""s head which come in contact with a soccer ball without the possibility of displacement of the protective padding and without unnecessarily discomforting the player.